Thought Leadership Video Series

Canon Gives Customers Insight into the Future

Published on May 1, 2012

European Professional Print Director for Canon Europe, David Presket shares some information about the recent white paper reports detailing the challenges and opportunities in the industry and unveils "The Bigger Picture" report.

David Preskett: I’m David Preskett from Canon Europe; I’m from the production printing business in Europe for Canon.

Nick Klitsie: I’m Nick Klitsie, Océ, Vice President for Office and Print Room. And we’ve been selling Canon’s products now since the moment that the announcement started, actually been doing very successful last year. Today, I announced that we sold 170 image presses in 2011; we’re getting in a very good flow, both in the print room product line and in the office line. And actually Océ is very happy because we have the fullest product portfolio we ever had. So in terms of being able to satisfy our prospects and customers in the marketplace, we’re in a very good position right now. Also, on a local level, organizations are working very closely together and really trying to get the maximum out of the marketplace. And I think you can confirm that, David.

David Preskett: Yes, and we’ve got a lot of our local sales organizations are working together to help our customers grow their business. We gave an example of customers that just recently, who had bought Canon and Océ equipment as a combined proposition and they can only do that since the acquisition of Océ. So, it definitely has been well received, customers are responding to it and we are helping them realize their production ambitions across wide format or cut sheet, color, black and white, continuous feed all from one organization. Nick gave you some examples of what we’ve been doing. We’ve also been doing things like showrooms. That’s been examples of us working together where we’ve put our production capabilities in one place so that customers in Europe can go to a country and see the entire picture, the bigger picture, in one place, to see the opportunities for the future. We think that helps them grow their business long term.

When it was first announced, customers used to talk to us and say, actually, we see you as two technology companies, long term investment in R&D, but both very well-known for service and support commitment to our customers. And actually, the products are complimentary. Canon came with a color heritage; Océ came with a black and white heritage. Océ brought huge expertise in outdoor and wide format and Canon brought indoor expertise. Those are kind of examples of where we came together and it all fitted really well.

Nick Klitsie: Yeah. And it’s being recognized by both customer bases. It’s recognized by the Océ customer base as well that the variety of things that we can offer today in the marketplace is just basically incomparable with what we were capable of in the past. So, very positive reactions.

David Preskett: I think we can say, accelerated in product line because if you take the example we’ve already looked at, Océ VarioPrint DP line, there is a product which is an Océ print engine, brand new, with an Océ PRISMA sync controller, and Canon finishing. Other examples, the image press, VPS engine, PRISMA sync controller on an image press engine. Only by two R&D teams working very closely together can you get those products to market within a year or…

Nick Klitsie: Oh, absolutely.

David Preskett: Roughly a year.

Nick Klitsie: And they were not small projects. They were basically quite complex projects because you have to integrate and you have to do that from both areas, both Canon and Océ. And it all worked out well, perfectly within a year. And I think that’s a very big achievement for the R&D Departments.

David Preskett: We are one booth at the show. You’ll see Canon and Océ on one stand, integrated. And that’s a reflection of how we want our customers to see us and how we want to help our customers. The technologies between the two organizations, it’s about – here’s an application, here’s some examples of what other customers are doing. We’ve got 50 case studies on the stand, 50 applications of real world, what’s happening now. And we’ve got the Canon solutions, image capture on the cameras all the way through to cut sheet, and in combination with Océ technologies, wide format, cut sheet, continuous feed, to show customers, if you’ve got an ambition to do something different, maybe cross media or in production, with Canon and Océ, you can. And at drupa, you won’t find Canon at one end and Océ at the other; it’s all integrated to deliver the applications that customers want for the future.

Nick Klitsie: And in addition to that, there’s something else. Because not only do customers see all the applications that we can run, but also your sales organizations get to know what is being sold by the other sales organization and actually are in a position then to be able to offer more solutions to their customers than they can do today. So it’s a win-win, all around.

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